It is often necessary or desired to support an accessory of some type at the end of a supporting structure. This need is common to many fields, including but not limited to the optical recording art, the hand tool art and in supporting flat-panel televisions and the like.
One of the major challenges faced in the optical recording arts is the filming of moving objects or activities, e.g., while skiing, while maintaining stabilization of the camera. To address this, many modern video cameras have built-in electronic image stabilizing circuitry. While these circuits are helpful in reducing the minor fluctuations of camera movement, they cannot distinguish between purposeful movement of the camera and accidental movement as a result of operator fatigue. Moreover, the frequent use of long lenses and digital zoom capabilities of cameras requires the physical stabilization of the camera in order to minimize the camera's movement which otherwise would result in image shifts several times that of the camera movement.
Various solutions are available to assist with this problem, for example, tripods, monopods, and different types of frame assemblies. Tripods can stabilize the camera movement but restrict portability. Frame assemblies for mounting cameras on the human body for stabilization are typically not designed for the size, weight and ergonomics of smaller handheld digital cameras.
Older video cameras, by example, are typically larger and heavier than modern cameras, which required them to be rested directly on the operator's shoulders. The viewfinder of these cameras was positioned outboard of the camera body and toward the operator thereby placing it in a natural position in front of the operator's eye. The overall weight of the camera was borne on the operator's shoulder with the center of gravity of the camera being placed on the point of the operators shoulder. Thus although larger and heavier, these devices were more stable and manageable during operation.
With the advent of smaller “palm-sized” handheld camcorders, all of the camcorder's weight is borne on the operators' arm in front of his body. Known shoulder mounting assemblies are insufficient in locating a wide variety of cameras upon the shoulder of an operator as differences in the wide range of models and manufacturers often places the viewfinder off-line from the operator's eyes requiring tedious readjustment of the shoulder mount.
Moreover, during prolonged filming, the ergonomics of these known shoulder mounted camcorder designs often contribute to operator fatigue and camera instability due to their size and weight and inability to easily adjust camera positioning, thereby reducing the quality of the recorded images as a result.
An example of a frame assembly for supporting a camera is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,890,025 and 6,056,449 issued to Hart. The assembly is comprised of a rigid frame having a front and a rear portion with a pair of shoulder rests constructed to rest on the shoulders of the wearer. This type of device has the disadvantage of being bulky, cumbersome and heavy, defeating the ergonomics and the performance of the small handheld cameras or camcorders.
Still other frame assemblies have been proposed in the art, however each of these previously known systems suffer from a lack of flexibility in the operational positioning of the various optical device mounted thereon.
It is also known to support various hand-tool devices, e.g., spot-lights, at the end of deformable support arms, such as Black & Decker's® ‘Snake Light’®. These known deformable arms are essentially simple bars crafted from one of a number of pliable materials, which permit deformation along their length, and are adapted to support integral accessories at their distal ends.
While effective to a certain degree, these known deformable arms are restricted to supporting accessories whose operation does not incur an off-axis force upon the material of the deformable arm that would otherwise cause the deformable arm to bend. Thus, the amount of weight that known deformable arms can support at their distal ends is directly related to the specific material composition or assembled construction from which the deformable arm is crafted. As known deformable arms are fashioned to be easily bent into a desired shape by a user exerting a relatively minor off-axis force, these known devices are intrinsically limited to supporting accessories that are relatively light in weight or static in operation (thus, to support accessories that were massive in weight or dynamic in operation (such as a camera being carried by an operator), the bar of a deformable arm assembly would need to be proportionally and therefore, prohibitively larger in diameter, or fashioned from a material that would be proportionally difficult or even impractical for users to readily bend by their own hand).
Apart from the hand-tool art, it is precisely this limitation on known deformable arm assemblies that requires that support arms for, e.g., flat-panel televisions be crafted from rigid and non-deformable elements.
With the forgoing problems and concerns in mind, it is the general object of the present invention to provide an articulated support assembly which overcomes the above-described limitations on the weight-bearing capacity of the assembly, while maintaining the ability of the support assembly to be deformed into varied shapes and contours, as desired by a user.